Pokhara,
Nepal
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Pokhara and Nepal for that matter feel a world away from India. It is much more quiet, touristy and clean than India and the scenery changes quite quickly as one heads into the heart of the country. Of course, the change for us was not quite gradual. We had to take two successive 10 hour bus rides through India and Nepal to get here. The first bus ride, on a regular bog-standard Indian bus was difficult enough: everything was covered in grime, we were the only foreigners on it (not that that was a problem, but we had to share a bench made for 3 people with 3 other Indians), the seats were made for people half our size, the roads were bumpy and the traffic followed the usual honk-honk standard pattern in India, which means about the sound of a jet engine only more annoying. Somehow we made it through without being too phased about it: earplugs and books help. We spent the night in the Nepali border town of Bhairawa, where there still is political instability and we witnessed some street fighting between the police and the mob right under our hotel window during the evening. We even had a brick hit the side of our window while we were watching. Now before anyone in our family gets too scared, we left the town without incident and we got reassured by an expat who's been living in Nepal for years that the rest of the country is very peaceful and safe. We also read reports and the situation in the rest of the country is stable. The second bus in Nepal by the way was about the same standard as the Indian one with one notable exception: this was the first time we saw goats on the bus! Makes you wonder why they call it "chicken buses"?!
We finally got to Pokhara, which is a standard backpacker village: packed with lots of very decent hotels, good restaurants serving anything from apple strudels to sushi to Canadian chocolate brownies and tons of shops selling trekking gear, hippy clothes and New Age music. All this in a lovely setting: imagine a mountain lake ringed by the foothills of the Himalayas, over which lumber the snow-capped silhouettes of several mountains of over 7000m, and one 8000m tall mountain (Annapurna - the 14th highest in the world). It is a very relaxed place, clean and friendly, and which feels like a vacation from its exact opposite which is India. It is also the last place where we can enjoy some comforts, like hot showers and Japanese food, before we head on a 9-day trek in a couple of days. The trek by the way, which is called the Jomsom trek, will take us through the deepest valley in the world. It is supposed to have amazing views while it still offers very convenient accomodation and food. It is not overly strenuous and this is one of the best times of the year to do it so we're pretty excited.
